■ ' •■•- ••-•■■■■■-- 

AIBIBIRS33E8 



DELIVERED AT THE PRESENTATION 

OF THE 



Portrait of Abraham Lincoln, 



COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 



FEBRUARY 12, L8«7. 



3 



TRENTON, N. J.: 

tilKTED AT mi. OFV1CE ok ihk si aii; i;\/i in. 
I si; 7. 



>g%2 ^^S 



ADDRESSES 



DELIVERED AT THK 



PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 




COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 



FEBRUARY 1^, 1SG7. 



TRENTON, N. J.: 

FEINTED AT THE Oil ICE OP Till: STATi: GAZKTTK. 

1867. 



■A/5 



At the session of the Legislature of 1866, Bon. Roberl Moore, of 
berland, offered the following preambles and resolution, having 
in view the placing of the portrail of Abraham Lincoln in the Assem- 
bly Chamber : 

•• Whereas, the American people have always held in grateful re- 
membrance the memory of their patriotic and illustrious dead: and. 

•• Wher as, thos • who preceded us have given a place for the por- 
trail of George Washington, the Father of his Country, in this A 
sembly Chamber; therefore, 

•• Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed, of which the 
Speaker of the House shall lie one of said Committee, to procure a 
portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the Saviour of his Country, at a cost 
not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, and to have a place in 
this Assembly Chamber." 

Messrs. Moore, Jlill and Custis were appointed in accordance with 
tins resolution. 

'1 he work was entrusted to the care of Mr. Waugh, of Philadelphia, 
and was completed to the entire satisfaction of the Committee. 

Mr. Lincoln's birthday was selected as a suitable time for the pre- 
sentation, in connection with which the following addresses were de- 



ADDRESS OF HON. ROBERT MOORE. 



Mr. Speaker : — The day having arrived which was set apart for 
the report of the Committee and the presentation of the portrait of 
Abraham Lincoln, in accordance with the preamble and resolution 
passed at the last regular session of the Legislature, which read as 
follows : 

" Whereas, the American people have always held in grateful re- 
membrance the memory of their patriotic and illustrious dead ; and, 

" Whereas, those who preceded us have given a place for the por- 
trait of George Washington, the Father of his Country, in this As- 
sembly Chamber; therefore. 

" Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed, of which the 
Speaker of the House shall be one of said Committee, to procure a 
portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the Saviour of his Country, at a cost 
not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, and to have a place in 
this Assembly Chamber." 

I desire to say in behalf of said Committee, after examining the 
portraits painted by different artists, your Committee unanimously re- 
solved to give the order to one Mr. Waugh, of Philadelphia, who, 
your Committee believes, has most successfully accomplished the end 
desired, and take pleasure in offering this report, and presenting for 
your acceptance this portrait of Abraham Lincoln. 

On the 12th day of February, 1809, fifty-eight years ago, Abraham 
Lincoln was first permitted to behold the light of day. Six years ago 
he stood within these walls, and on the floor of this House, to do honor 
to New Jersey's sons, and said: "While but a boy, reading the history 
of the Revolution by the dim light of the midnight lamp, I was al- 
ways more interested in that part of the history relating to the hard 
fought battles and glorious victories gained upon New Jersey's soil. 
I suppose," said he, " I stand to-day not far from where some of those 
glorious victories were won, and am I not addressing the sons of those 
noble sires? Allow me to say," said he, "if my life is spared to 
come into office, in my official capacity 1 shall know no North, no 
South, no East, no West, but the whole country. I shall do every- 
thing in my power to bring the country back to its original peace and 
harmony; but if all efforts should fail, and it becomes necessary to 
put down the foot firmly, will you stand by me V" And all, with one 



voice, cried aloud, " We will !" and we did; and how truthfully did 
he fulfill those promises. 

We propose to introduce to this House the portrait of Abraham 
Lincoln, a man who defended and perpetuated the liberty that Wash- 
ington had founded — a true friend of freedom and humanity. History 
and tradition are explored in vain for a parallel to his short and 
eventful career. Born to be the benefactor of mankind, nature made 
him great, he made himself virtuous. In his life lie triumphantly 
vindicated the rights of humanity, and on the everlasting pillars of 
freedom he proposed to reconstruct this government. Twice called 
by the voice of a free people to occupy the highest position in their 
gift, his voice in the cabinet and in the councils of the nation was 
listened to with awe and respect; his highest ambition was the happiness 
of mankind — bequeathing to posterity the inheritance of freedom for 
all. And time may roll on its sweeping current, carrying myriads to 
the tomb, generations may die, centuries may close up their long 
career, nations may be revolutionized, the vast fabrics of empire may 
all crumble into dust, and others arise in their place, but the short 
and eventful public life and violent death of Abraham Lincoln will 
ever live in history, and be remembered away beyond them all. A 
nation that mourned his loss has caught up his name, and will bear it 
onward and onward, as the sweep of empire widens and strengthens 
and prolongs its reign. A single moment accomplished his death, 
eternity alone will reveal the results of his life. Thousands of 
volumes will proclaim his eventful rule, and history in its calm and 
truthful record will bring out in bold relief the fact that his was 
" One of a few immortal names that was not born to die." His life 
speaks volumes to American youth. Though a humble farmer's boy, 
without a dollar, without a book, with the advantages of our institu- 
tions may become a great leader of men and controller of mind, and 
at least become the head of the greatest of nations. Mr. Lincoln, 
whose portrait the Committee presents before you to-day, was a. 
farmer's boy. He became a successful advocate, a wise counselor, 
an honest man. When the voice of the people summoned him to 
Washington to take hold of the helm of the ship of State, how the old 
ship trembled in the stream; how eventful the time; how men's 
hearts quailed with fear. The dark and heavy cloud of civil war was 
already above the horizon. It ascended in awful grandeur and over- 
spread the heavens. The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, ami 
the storm burst forth with terrific fury, threatening eternal ruin every 
where, and yet calm and self possessed amidst the raging storms of 
political strife, the gaping wave and rushing flood, the helmsman 
stood with steady hand and fixed eye, with nerves of steel and 
patriotic heart, and his bright hopes inspired confidence that gave 
success. The storm gave way and the noble ship finds a calmer sea. 
All honor to the illustrious statesman who brought her' safely on her 
way. But as the storm abates the statesman falls — the nation mourns. 
Just as the nation looks in admiration, and hearts of swelling grati- 



tude and love speak forth his praise, he is no more. The statesman 
falls just as the sun of peace rise;- with healing on her wings and 
drives back the dark cloud of civil war. Just as the burden is rolled 
oft* from every loyal heart, we are overwhelmed with sorrow. And 
we can only say. Not our will, Oh! God, but Thine be done. 

Then let us lay aside all party differences, and dedicate this por- 
trait to the memory of the patriotic and illustrious dead. 



ADDRESS OF HON. D. W. C. MORRIS. 



Mr. Speaker:— I hold in my hand resolutions which I propose 
offering to this house in relation to the portrait now submitted by tho 
committee to us for our acceptance. 

But previous to formally doing so, I beg leave to make a few pre- 
liminarv remarks. I should have prefered to have spoken without 
writing, but was fearful that in my flow of feeling on such a subject, 
I might forget the convenience and trespass on the rights of others 
as to length therefore, I have committed to paper what I have to say. 

I would first acknowledge and give credit for the original resolu- 
tion to its author, the Hon. Robert Moore of Cumberland county, to 
whose patriotic efforts we are indebted in procuring this speaking 
likeness of the immortal Lincoln, whose memory is enshrined in the 
heart of every true lover of his country. 

May we not look upon this portrait as a fitting companion to deco- 
rate this Assembly Chamber with that of our beloved Washington— 
the one properly designated the Father and the other the Savior of 
his country. . 

And may we not also here .couple with it the recollection ot the 
talented and eloquent address delivered by the Hon. Richard S. 
Field before the Legislature of the last session, just one year ago 
to-day on a similar anniversary occasion, and cherish them as fitting 
tributes by the representatives of our State to the memory of tho 
martyred statesman and hero. , ... 

It is not my purpose, sir, to pronounce a lengthy eulogy on the hie 
and character of the good and great man whose portrait we now 
have before us. Though I cannot help but believe that it will be 
quite appropriate and acceptable to us all, for me just here to quote 
the sentiments of an eloquent writer, Hon. John Davidson, from a 
truthful eulogium on Abraham Lincoln, which in a word will express 
my own views and feelings on this anniversary of his birth-day. 

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States; 
he was honest, just, liberal, patriotic, of uncommon common sense; 
a worthy successor of George Washington ; a ruler whom the nation 
loved ; inflexible in right ; never cast down in the darkest hour ot 
gloom ; a man and a President. 

The' great meteoric star of New England, Daniel Webster, once 
said • "They can take awav my life, can destroy my name, but they 
can never undo what I have done for my country." Our lamented 



9 



President could have adopted these words; for the benefits conferred 
on America by him can neither be undone nor forgotten, until the 
grand dissolution of empires, kingdoms and republics shall announce 
to a slumbering world the second appearing of the Son of man 

Washington bade farewell to earth, and passed from mortal cares 
to immortal bliss as an emancipationist. 

Abraham Lincoln trod the same hallowed ground as the emanci- 
pator of a nation's slaves. . 

Our late President was no more noted lor his patnotism-which 
was of that high and pure type, soaring above party cliques and 
Seeds, and comprehending as his duty the entire circle of states and 
everv beat of whose heart was true to Amenca-than lie was for his 
simplicity-— the simplicity of great men with great minds His intel- 
lect was of that high and pure mould, that he could take the telescope 
of] hi mind and, with the eye of patriotism, look into the dark future 
and through the bursting heart-strings of a nation and the smoke of 
carnage, discern the clear, unclouded sky, and see the bow of promise, 
is n ennonv snan the American nation. 

Sonest and just, he has earned for himself a name in this particu- 
lar which will be classified by the future historian with Anstides 
the Just ; a name greater than conqueror. His heart and sou was 
large enough to embrace his whole country. Never hasty, but always 
sure He weighed his words and acts as in the scale of jus ice. His 
name will live? it cannot die. Graven upon the hearts of loyal mil- 
lions, is the record of his deeds. Generation succeeding generation 
will tell of the great man. Painters will delineate on canvass sculp- 
tors in marble,'poets in song, orators in living words, and historians, 
on the recording page' will each and all vie in committing to > imper 
ishable works and words the many virtues and deeds of that great 
and sood man's heart and life. 

The four millions of ransomed and redeemed sons and daughters 
of Africa will lisp, in softened accents and with streaming tears, the 
virtues of that heart whose wonderful simplicity and power became 
the instruments of the Almighty God to break in pieces the clanking 

and galling chains of a barbarous servitude. His fame is American, 

"XndTfuture generations see and realize the full glory of the 
meridian sun of universal libcrty,and feel its benignant rays, blessing 
the land with its untold, uncounted mercies, they will with one accord, 
crown Abraham Lincoln the morning star of American liberty. 

Should no marble column raise to his memory, nor engraved stone 
bear record of his deeds, yet will his name be as lasting as the land 

h \larble C colu.nns may indeed moulder into dust; time may erase all 
impress from the crumbling stone, yet will his fame remain for with 
American Liberty it rose, and with American Liberty only can it 

Pe Thus' may we read in the features of that speaking likeness the 



10 

tfT- Ca T V ° f Sen "-' Ce ai ; d deyotion ' and as we l00k u P<>n it again 
and agam, the expression of countenance will remind us as often tint 
the noblest motive of his life was the public good, and that he had 
malice towards none and charity for all. 
Truly, in the words of another, he was a 

"Statesman, yet friend to truth of soul sincere 
In action faithful, and in honor clear, 
Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end 
Who gamed no title, and who lost no friend. 1 ' 

And now he rests; his greatness and his simplicity no more shall 
KerfhfeKfe m ° Ulded int ° Cdm com P leteness the 

"Where Liberty dwells there shall be his monument." 
resolution 11686 remarks ' Mr ' S P caker > Permit me to offer the following 

Resolved, That the portrait of the lamented Lincoln, now presented 
for the acceptance of the Legislature by their committee of the last 

llfZ ZSSf i ^ r 8 m + att6r h Ch / rge ' meets with our ^Probation, 
and its faithful delineation of the features and expression of the ff ood 
and great patriot, as well as its execution generally, as a work of art 
is creditable to the artist. *' 

Resolved That the thanks of this Legislature are due and are 
hereby tendered to the Committee, and especially to their Chairman, 
the Hon. Robert Moore, of Cumberland county, who offered the reso- 
lution m relation to procuring this portrait, and who, together with 
the other members of the Committee, have so satisfactorily performed 
the duties committed to them. ' 

Resolved That the report of the Committee be accepted, and that 
they be discharged. 



ADDRESS OF HON. E. A. STANSBURY. 



Mr. Speaker: — It is now nearly two years since the American 
people were paralyzed by the announcement that Abraham Lincoln 
had been slain by the hand of an assassin. It fell like a thunderbolt 
from a cloudless sky. Forgetting for the moment its horror and 
indignation at the foul deed that had bereft it, in the bitter sense 
of loss and of bereavement, the whole vast nation "lifted up its 
voice and wept." Even over the regions where rebellion had scarcely 
laid down its arms, there passed a hush and a shudder at the awful 
event, as if it boded some new aggravation of their doom. 

The morning that dawned on that fearful night of Good Fridi 
too fresh in our memories to need description. Blank despair filled 
the faces of men. while scarce word was spoken, and tears fell like rain. 

The news was borne across the sea and flashed over (he old world; 
and the hearts of men sank within them as they exclaimed, " our 
friend is dead!"' The princes and potentates of the world vied with 
each other in the formal expressions of sympathy, and the common 
people, with an instinct that never errs, laid their stricken hearts to 
ours and wept with us. 

It was but yesterday that the last echoes of a world's tender sym- 
pathy in our loss has reached our ears. To-day we receive the "coun- 
terfeit presentment" of his features, and we reverently place it b< 
the portrait of the " Father of his country." 

Who is this man, whose death by violence fdls. not only one nation, 
but a world, with the notes of woe? And whence his right to stand 
beside him to whom this people has so long accord* d the firsl place 
in its veneration and regard. He boasted no titled, no honored, ao 
oultured ancestry. No herald's book of pedign the came 

of his grandfather, or the heroic (U-<><\< of Ids remote progenitors. A 
log cabin in the young State of Kentucky witnessed bis birth. His 
youth was passed in occupations but illy calculated, according to or- 
dinary experience, to mature either presidents or heroes. Even the 
scant rudiments of education, with which he began his sturdy struggle 
with an adverse fair, were wrung from the few books thai chance 
threw in his way. Mis manhood came to find him armed only with 
slender knowledge, but with a purpose as resolute, and a heart as 
true to rierht as ever human breasl contained. 



12 

How his logical instinct inclined him to the law, how he won 
competence and the confidence of men therein, how he rushed to the 
field when the savage tribes threatened our frontier, how his fellow 
citizens summoned him to one after another of the places of honor 
and trust in their gift, until a nation called him to be its .chief, at the 
most momentous and critical period of its history, there is no time 
now to speak. 

It is enough for my purpose that at the commencement of the re- 
bellion, Abraham Lincoln was President ot the United States. He 
was comparatively a new man, known to the nation at large chiefly 
by his celebrated contest before the people of Illinois, with the ablest 
and most adroit debater among his political opponents. On the 
strength of that series of debates, and his local reputation, they made 
him their Chief Executive. The experiment (for such it was) was a 
perilous one. But it was presented as the alternative to one which 
they deemed far more perilous. The government was virtually in 
the hands of conspirators, who had thrust themselves into its chief 
places, in order the better to betray and destroy it. Their demon- 
stration against it wore an air of solemn dignity and deliberation 
that was well calculated to overawe the timid, and decide the doubt- 
ful. They scattered our navy; they accepted the surrender of the 
greater part of our army from one of themselves; they seized our 
forts and embezzled our money. The nation — the loyal part of it — 
seemed stupefied by the discovery that what they had taken lor 
bravado was a real attack upon the Republic. They looked to their 
newly elected President for guidance and direction, and they looked 
not in vain. The new hand seized the helm — not in a spirit of boast- 
ing self-confidence — not as if the problem were easy of solution — but 
with a humble reliance on the support of a higher power, a spirit of 
noble self-devotion, and above all, an unfaltering faith in the people, 
that clung to him and supported him through every hour and every 
phase of the long and terrible struggle that followed. There were 
seasons of doubt and depression far more often than seasons of ex- 
ultation. Every base passion of humanity, lashed into preternatural 
activity by the vast prizes and opportunities of a gigantic war, surged 
around him like the fiery waves of hell, and threatened every mo- 
ment to whelm him and the precious hopes committed to his keeping, 
in final and hopeless ruin. He had learned war only as a subaltern 
in an Indian expedition, yet he was compelled in the last resort to 
decide on plans of mighty campaigns, and the changes of warring com- 
manders. His practice of diplomacy had been confined to the man- 
agement of his cases in the law courts, yet he alone was the final 
arbiter of questions on which hung the issue of peace or war with 
foreign nations. His knowledge of finance was limited by an expe- 
rience which scarcely extended beyond the acquisition and expendi- 
ture of a moderate competence, yet his voice was needed to give the 
final sanction to the financial system of a great nation, in the midst 



13 

of the mightiest war and the most enormous expenditure recorded in 
human annals. 

And yet, in all these difficult positions, this new and untried man 
proved equal to every occasion. He was not always right in his con- 
clusions—and who ever was? But results have proved his wisdom to 
have been of that kind that, to use a homely phrase, wears the best. 
He made some mistakes, but there is hardly an instance in which, re- 
specting a great question of policy, he would have done better had 
lie followed the advice which others so persistently thrust upon him. 
He had literally no pride of opinion that could keep him for a mo- 
ment from changing his ground when his judgment was convinced. 
His keen, logical mind seemed to pierce at once through the shell of 
sophistry and error, and seize the truth with a certainty that was un- 
erring. His judgment of men, though inspired always with a warm 
charity and human sympathy, was something wonderful in its pene- 
tration. He sought for no ideals, for he knew he must do his work 
with such materials as he found at hand. If he often appointed in- 
competent officers, it was notbecause ho thought them perfect, but, 
as he often remarked, solely because none could show him better 
men. He saw and felt that a nation practising war on a vast scale, 
after fifty years of hardly interrupted peace, must grow to its work 
by its own hard-boughtexperiem e. 

He knew from the first that slavery was the weak point of the re- 
bellion, and he longed for the overthrow of that relic of savage days 
with a longing that never knew abatement. But he knew also that 
he was chosen to rule under a constitution and laws which it was not 
for him to call inquestion, and therefore it was that he waited till 
every needful condition precedent had been fulfilled, and then, with 
•every form and sanction that could give it emphasis and force, he 
launched the immortal proclamation of emancipation, and gave the 
slaveholders' rebellion its death blow. 

No clamor moved him to issue it a moment sooner than he deemed 
wise and just, and no threats or imprecations availed to stay his hand 
when the hour had arrived. 

One by one the measures of his administration grew out of the ne- 
cessities of the time. He had no pet theories to vindicate— no fa- 
vorites to reward, no enemies (except those of his country) to pdnish. 
Amid all the trials and treacheries, and exasperations of such 
varied experience, his heart, instead of growing hard and cold with 
its terrible knowledge of human weakness and depravitj . seemed to 
grow softer and more tender to the Inst. The sufferings of our brave 
soldiers weighed his spirits down with a perpetual sorrow. The cry 
of the bereaved and desolate never fell unheeded on his ears. Op- 
pressed by the cares of state as man was never oppressed before, he 
could not bear to send away any who desired to see him and pour 
their individual grief into Ins overburdened heart. They went to 
him as to a father, and he sorrowed for them as for his own children. 



14 



Possessing no graces of person or of manner— plain and awkward 
in appearance, he found little favor with those who deem all elevate* 
positions the natural birthright of the graceful and cultivated childien 

3 But with those whom he called " the plain people," the force of his 
character soon made itself felt. When the conviction settled down 
into their minds that Abraham Lincoln had no purpose m his heart 
but to serve and save his country, that they could trust his honesty 
as well as his judgment in the mighty strife before them, they gave 
him without stint their love and contidence-they poured out then 
money like water— they gave their sons and husbands by the million, 
and the fate of rebellion was sealed. They cared not if his form was 
gaunt, his hands were large, or his homely face furrowed with the 
fines of care. They saw that he was wise, and they felt that he was 

"suddenly elevated from a simple and private life to the first posi- 
tion on earth, he manifested no sign of exultation no arrogance ; or 
pride of place, but kept his plain manners and frank, cordial address 
to the last. In the dark hours of the war he never sank in imbecile 
depression, nor when victory crowned his armies did he claim lor 
himself the elory of the triumph. 

The mirthful element, to which such a disproportioned prominence 
has been given in the popular estimation of his character, was a bless- 
ing, the value of which cannot be estimated. It was but the heat- 
lightning that played about the cloud of anxiety and doubt that filled 
his soul? It was the outward form of a perception the most keen 
and delicate, not of the grotesque and the odd merely, but ol the 
very deepest' significance" of life. He told many stories, bu never 
one that did not point a moral or clinch an argument. Without a 
vice or the suspicion of one, scandal never dared to wag its em en- 
on ed tongue at him, but contented itself with efforts to wound him 
through those he held most dear. Every act of his .life passed under 
the convex lens of universal scrutiny, and yet none had the hardihood 
to attribute to him a single dishonorable act or unworthy motive 

A man who could thus pass such a fiery ordeal must have been 
rarelv endowed by nature for the very work he was ca led to per- 
form He did not possess genius in the sense m which that woid is 
commonly used-bat what man of reputed genius had we or have we 
to-day who would have been likely to prove a safe substitute for 
him" ' How many of our statesmen would have had strength to resist 
the people when they were wrong, and to wait amid deafening clamor 
for the right hour to do the right thing ? 

Abraham Lincoln had, as we have seen, no advantages of eaily 
education, but taught himself chiefly after he had begun the struggle 
ofHfe-y'et though Everett was more polished and Sumner more 
copious and elegant, no man in our day has spoken or written moie 
terse and nervous English, or struck with director force at the heart 
of the question he attempted to discuss. 



15 

But his great gift, or rather combination of gifts, was what we call 
common sense — that fine balance of faculties, that quick and delicate 
perception of what is fit or unfit, of what will do and what will not 
do. Against this trenchant blade of mother wit, no form of folly or 
sophistry could stand for a moment, but the blow descended, not that 
lie might win a personal triumph, but only that truth might be vindi- 
cated. 

I have been led further than I intended toward an attempt to 
analyze his character. That work remains for the historian who, in 
the mellowing light and juster perspective of years, shall sec our 
times with eyes unclouded by passion or prejudice. He may vary in 
some minor respects the estimate now placed by his friends upon the 
character and career of Abraham Lincoln, but he will come short of 
his duty if he does not record that no man ever rose from beginnings 
so humble to the foremost place in the world's love and veneration, 
yet bore himself so meekly in his high office and kept his heart so free 
from pride and avarice and the lust of power; that none who ever 
held such vast and priceless hopes in his keeping, discharged his great 
trust with more earnest fidelity, or more unselfish devotion ; that no 
public character ever more nobly united private purity with public 
integrity ; that in all the tide of time no man was ever so widely and 
justly beloved in life, and none ever mourned by the whole human 
race with a sorrow so profound and tender as Abraham Lincoln. 

Mr. Speaker, it is fit that we honor this man, and place his portrait 
beside that of Washington. If one was the Founder, the other was 
the Preserver of whatsoever we hold dear as Americans. 

In honoring him we place ourselves in sympathy with the friends 
of liberty and justice throughout the world, to whom his name is a 
synonymn for all that is noble and good. To them, as to us, he is the 
ideal of a true Democrat, embodying his creed in those immortal 
words uttered at Gettysburg, on laying the corner stone of the Sol- 
diers 7 Monument : 

'• It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining be- 
fore us * * * that this nation, under God, shall have a 
new birth of Freedom, and that government of the people, by the 
people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 

His name is a household word in every cottage of Europe and 
wherever else the idea of Liberty has penetrated — his proclamation 
of Freedom has gone into history, to stand beside Magna Charta and 
the Declaration of Independence, and through the ages to conic, as 
the great ideas for which he lived and died grow stronger and deeper 
in the heart- of men. the nam" and fame of Abraham Lincoln shall 
grow brighter and brighter to the end of time. 



ADDRESS OF HON. G. W. N. CUSTIS. 



Mr. Speaker: 'Tis fitting that the State should preserve, by every 
means, the memory of the truly great men that have been given to 
the nation ; and especially appropriate do I deem it to be that the 
form features and countenance of those greatest in work, most 
eloquent in language, purest in patriotism and most noble in charac- 
ter, should be preserved, as they may be, through painting and sculp- 
ture, that their beneficent teaching and bright example may be often 
brought to the mind and impressed upon the attention as, day by 
day, we look upon the perfect representation of their human embodi- 
ment; and to-day 'tis with a hopeful spirit that I take part in dedica- 
ting to the people of this State the portrait of Abraham Lincoln — a 
perpetual memento, whilst painting may endure, of the peerless man 
among the many noble ones that have been given to this nation — 
especially as I contemplate its preservation by the side of that of him 
of whom it was truthfully said: " First in war, first in peace, and 
first in the hearts of his countrymen"; and that in this chamber, 
where the representatives of the people meet for legislation, for legis- 
lators of the State or Nation need, above all others, to be inspired by 
whatever is noblest and purest, least selfish and most patriotic in hu- 
man example and teaching. 

On such an occasion as this 'tis becoming that we consider, for such 
short time as may be allowed us, those special traits of mind and 
heart that made him, whose portrait we present, all he was in himself 
and to the nation. 

Each one will form a somewhat different estimate of his character, 
and each will take a different view of the qualities that individualized 
him ; and we can be just to ourselves and true to those to whom we 
speak — only as we declare, faithfully and unreservedly, the thoughts 
which lie deepest in our own minds — as calmly we contemplate him 
as revealed in his words and work, and present that view of the man 
which, in our estimation, makes him worthy of remembrance, and ex- 
cites our admiration and love. Permit me then, candidly, but with 
much diffidence, to declare the thoughts of my mind as I contemplate 
Abraham Lincoln, and to present that view of his character which, in 
my estimation, entitles — and alone entitles him to a place among 
men to which few in earth's history have attained ; and makes him a 
man worthy of being loved by the nation, and one that will be a 
blessing to his race through the influence of bright example whilst 
history endures. 'Tis simply this: In the great work to which he 



17 

was called, his mind and heart were in harmony with the will and pur- 
pose of the God of Nations ; and m the prosecution of that work he 
had no will or plan of his oivn, save as he apprehended the will and 
plan of the Infinite Mind. What may be the great end to be attained 
through the establishment of this nation — what the great mission in all 
its fulness to which this people is called — I will not predict, nor take 
time to discuss; but this I feel we are justified by the unfolding of 
events, in declaring, viz.: that be it what it may, it is to be attained 
through the unity of these States, and the practical realization through- 
out the land, by all the people, of the truth that all men are created 
equal — this practical realization being promoted and secured through 
constitutional provision and legal enactment, faithfully and impar- 
tially executed. But this, though comparatively clear to us now, 
through the rapid unfolding of the plan of God in the history of the 
last five years, and in the inevitable tendency of present events, was 
not clear to any when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President 
of the United States. Many deemed the Union already and hope- 
lessly dissolved, six States at least having passed ordinances of seces- 
sion; others deemed its presentation impossible, save upon the impos- 
sible condition of a surrender to slave institutions ; and others deemed 
the Union undesirable even, whether with or without the restriction 
or existence of slavery. Others again, who clung to the Union, and 
declared tnat it must and should and would be preserved, freely 
granted slavery in the States, and proffered the promise that it should 
not be there disturbed. The preservation of the Union, and at the 
same time the extinction of slavery and security of equality of even 
civil rights to all, was what none dared to expect, what many would 
have deprecated, and few had faith even to hope for. Yet such and 
more was the purpose of the God of Nations, to be speedily wrought 
out through the events of the war then practically begun, but still 
disbelieved in and unprovided for by the Northern States, and not 
more than feared by any. And Lincoln himself was not wiser than 
his fellows. He had faith in the preservation of the Union, and be- 
lieved slavery to be a mighty wrong in the eyes of God and a curso 
to men; but how and when, or whether at all it should be removed, 
he divined not nor felt himself called upon to determine. More than 
two years previously he had prophetically declared : "This Union 
cannot permanently endure half slave and half free; the Union will 
not be dissolved, but the house will cease to be divided." But the un- 
certainty as to whether the house, when it ceased to be divided, 
would be the home of freedom on the stronghold of slavery, appears 
in these glowing words spoken soon after, which, whilst they express 
the doubt also prove the harmony of his soul with the great unknown 
purpose of the future, and his fitness to be the instrument of its ac- 
complishment. Speaking of slavery, he said: " Broken / by it I too 
may be, bow to it I never will. The probability that we will fail in 
the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause which 
I deem to be just — it shall not deter me.. Here, without contem- 
2 



18 

plating consequences, before High Heaven and in the face of the 
world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the 
land of my life, my liberty and my love." Noble words, worthy of 
the noblest of men. 

Other such may be found in his speech in the old Independence 
Hall, on his way to Washington. They have possibly more of faith 
in them, but nothing of certainty, and express as forcibly as words 
may, the deep sympathy of his soul with the end to be wrought out. 
He there said, " I have never had a feeling politically that did not 
spring from the Declaration of Independence, which gave liberty not 
only to the people of this country, but to the world, for all future 
time. If this country cannot be saved without giving up that prin- 
ciple, I had rather be assassinated on the spot than surrender it." 
No human mind foresaw the end, which indeed is not yet, nor human 
intellect devised the plan, nor human skill guided in its execution. 
Himself wrote, when the war had been raging for three years, and 
the emancipation proclamation had been issued for more than fifteen 
months, and the black man was found in the ranks of the army, bat- 
tling for his country. " I claim not to have controlled events, but 
confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of 
three years struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party 
or any man devised or expected. God alone can claim it." But 
though he claimed not the honor of what had then been attained to, 
nor yet what had been attained at the time of his assassination, enough 
has been said, especially when we bear in mind his subsequent acts, 
to show how thoroughly his whole being was in harmony with the 
result of God's work, wrought out through his instrumentality, and it 
remains only for us to make clear that other quality which we claim 
to be the crowning glory of the man, viz. : that in the prosecution of 
the work to which he was called, he had no will or plan of his own,, 
save as he apprehended it to be the will and plan of the Infinite 
mind ; but that, determined by the unfolding of events, he was firm 
and uncompromising in enforcing it. Most men with his positive 
faith in the perpetual unity of these States, coupled with his positive 
conviction of the injustice, impolicy and cruelty of slavery, of its in- 
compatibility with our free institutions or the preservation of liberty 
to any class of people, and withal of his self-dedication to the work of 
breaking its power, would, placed in his condition and surrounded by 
the circumstances that surrounded him at the time of his elevation to 
the Presidency and during the first year of his administration, have 
had a will and a plan that combined with the preservation of the 
Union the extinction of slavery. Slavery had rebelled against his 
constitutional election; against the unity of the States; against the 
teachings of the Declaration of Independence, and against the grow- 
ing civilization of the age. Why should he, with his convictions, 
clothed with his mighty power, in full view of slavery's rebellion, 
have hesitated to strike at it in the States and everywhere, and whilst 
preserving the Union, destroy that which alone threatened the Union, 



19 

and sought the destruction of everything dear to us and him ? 'T was 
simply because, whilst he could declare as he did in his first inaugu- 
ral, " I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the Con- 
stitution, the union of these States is perpetual," he found slavery in- 
trenched in our history, in our Constitution, and in our laws, with no 
warrant to him to destroy or impair it in the States. The preserva- 
tion of the Union, through the preservation, protection and defence 
of the Constitution and the faithful execution of the laws was clearly 
the work committed to him, and nothing more. The Union might be 
preserved and slavery maintained. If so, though his whole nature 
revolted against slavery, by making its destruction a purpose of his 
administration or a part of his plan for the preservation of the Union, 
he would have substituted his own will and judgment for the wisdom 
and commands of God, as expressed in law and the history of our 
country. His character would not permit that. His judgment and his 
will bowed before a supreme faith in the wisdom, justice and truth 
of the Supreme Ruler, and humbly he awaited the unfolding of His 
will in relation to slavery, and His plan for its attainment, not doubt- 
ing but that it would be unfolded so plainly that man need not 
err. If that wisdom, justice and truth required the destruction of 
slavery, it would be wrought out, not against, but in harmony with 
law ; not through the violation of the Constitution or the destruction 
of the Union, but through the highest demands of the one, and in ac- 
cord with the highest security of the other. His faith and his intel- 
ligent humility, this phase of his character that I would impress on 
your minds as, in my judgment, the key to his entire outer and inner 
life, is strongly presented in his reply to one who, during the progress 
of our struggle, sought to strengthen and cheer him by the remark 
that the Lord was on our side. He replied : " I am not concerned 
that the Lord should be on our side, but 1 am concerned that we 
should be on the Lord's side." ' Twas his concern, not that God 
should approve his ideas and his plans, and work them out in the 
overruling of His Providence, but rather that he might learn and ap- 
prove and work in harmony with the will and plan of the Almighty. 
With this character he entered upon the duties of the Presidency, 
declaring " I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with 
the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I 
have no lawful right to do so," and having no right " I have no in- 
clination to do so," but declaring at the same time that " to the ex- 
tent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly 
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in 
all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my 
part, and 1 shall perform it as far as practicable." And declaring 
this also, " I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, 
and with no purpose to construe the Constitution and laws by any 
hypercritical test." Reviewing his action in a letter to A. G. Hodges, 
dated April 4th, 1864, he places the matter in this strong light: " I 
am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. 



20 

I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and yet I have 
never understood that the Presidency conferred on mean unrestricted 
right to act officially on this judgment and feeling. It was in the 
oath I took that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect 
and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I understood 
that in ordinary and civil administration this oath ever forbade me 
to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral 
question of slavery." With such views, while he could declare from 
the depth of his soul " If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong,' 7 he 
could also consistently declare, as he did in his letter to Horace 
Greeley, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I 
would do it;" and could consistently forbid military emancipation, as 
he repeatedly did in the early part of the war when he did not re- 
cognize its indispensable necessity to the preservation of the Union. 
To save the Union was his highest and only clear duty — to wipe out 
the wrong of slavery was the province of Him in whose hands he was 
but an instrument, and who had as yet given him no authority to do 
it. But the time came when his highest duty was in harmony with 
his soul's conviction of the absolute and unmitigated wrong of slavery ; 
when the preservation of the Union, the very defence of the Consti- 
tution to which he was sworn, demanded unmistakably the proclama- 
tion of emancipation and the arming of the negro. God had wrought 
out the necessity and made the way plain, and cheerfully and reso- 
lutely he walked therein. He writes: "In my best judgment I was 
driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with 
it the Constitution, or of laying strong hands on the colored element." 
The processes of his mind through which his duty became clear, are 
revealed in that letter to Col. Hodges, which we have already quoted, 
and which of itself is a monument worthy of the best of earth's sons. 
u Was it possible," he reasons, " to lose the nation and yet preserve 
the Constitution. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I 
had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if to save slavery or any 
other minor matter I should permit the wreck of Government, Coun- 
try and Constitution altogether," and "I felt that measures otherwise 
unconstitutional might become lawful by becoming indispensable to 
the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the 
nation." Who now doubts the correctness or justice of his reason- 
ing ? Himself lived to be able to declare : " The emancipation policy 
and the use of colored troops were the greatest blows yet dealt to the 
rebellion." The struggle of his soul, as he passed from the convic- 
tion that it was his duty to defend slavery to the conviction that it 
was his duty to destroy it; from the conviction that as an instrument 
in the hands of God it was his great work to preserve the Union 
irrespective of slavery, to the conviction that he was called by Him 
whom he served to save the Union through emancipation, may be 
apprehended in his language when he announced to his Cabinet that 
the proclamation could be delayed no longer. "The people," he 
said, were prepared for it, public sentiment would sustain it, and I 



21 

have promised my God that I would do it." "Yes," being ques- 
tioned as to whether he was correctly understood, " Yes, I made a 
solemn vow before God, that if Gen. Lee were driven back from 
Pennsylvania I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom 
to the slaves." 

lie who had conscientiously defended slavery in the States, lest he 
should by any other course assume the prerogative of the Great 
Judge, now is troubled lest he be found fighting against God by 
longer withholding the Proclamation ; and we see him in the hour of 
deep anxiety, when Lee presses to the heart of Pennsylvania, humbly 
bowing before the God of battles and solemnly pledging that it shall 
be withheld no longer if He will give the opportunity for its issue by 
victory. Victory was given ; the proclamation was issued ; and he 
never faltered in sustaining and enforcing it. Nearly two years after 
it went into effect, in his annual message to Congress he says : " I re- 
peat the declaration made a year ago, that while I remain in my 
present position I shall not retract or modify the Emancipation Proc. 
lamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the 
terms of that proclamation or by any of the acts of Congress. If 
the people should, by whatever mode or means make it an Executive 
duty to re-enslave such persons, another and not I, must be the in- 
strument to perform it." His true relation to God, and to the work 
to which he was called was clear to his mind, and was expressed by 
him in such language as this : " I am but an accidental, temporary 
instrument for the preservation of the Union. Without a name ; 
without a reason why I should hrve a name, there has fallen on me a 
task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his Country. He 
never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence. 
On the same Almighty Power I place my reliance. Pray that I may 
receive that Divine assistance without which I can not succeed, but 
with which success is certain." He did receive the Divine assistance, 
denied to none who humbly seek it as lie did. A glorious success 
was measurcably achieved before his death, and success perfect and 
complete is the nation's heritage in the future ; and to-day we place 
the art representation of his form and features beside that of Wash- 
ington, in whose history there is no brighter scene than that which 
presents him as kneeling before God in the camp at Valley Forge, 
and lifting his soul in prayer for his country in its darkest hour, and 
for his army lying hungry and bleeding about him. Glory to those 
immortal men whose words, whose example, and whose work have 
been, now are and will be, through all time, a blessing to our country 
and to the world. 

I dare not trespass longer on your time and patience. A thought 
more and I am done. God, through Abraham Lincoln, has preserved 
to us the Union, threatened no longer by any armed foe, and acknow- 
ledged to be. by eternal decrees, indissoluble; has wrought out for us 
the removal of slavery, that thing which caused such anxious fore- 
boding to our forefathers, and which alone threatened our stability, 



22 

prosperity and happiness as a people ; and by constitutional provision, 
freedom is secured for all time to come to every inhabitant, and by 
law of Congress equality in civil rights is acknowledged and accorded 
to all. But more is required; and upon the men of to-day devolves 
the responsibility of securing it. Civil rights to all is not yet secured 
by the fundamental law ; and political equality, alike with civil 
equality, demanded by the "self evident truths" upon which the 
fabric of our government rests, is not yet acknowledged or secured by 
United States or State constitutions or laws. When will the people 
be prepared to accord it? There is no rest for the country until it 
be granted. Clearly, God hath decreed as we have said: " That His 
purpose is to be achieved not only through the unity of these States, 
but also the realization by all the people, of the truth, that 'Ml men 
are created equal. 1 " To that point we must press on. If we hesi- 
tate, and whilst we wait, it will be only to bear the anger of the 
Almighty and suffer the penalty of our pride and injustice. 



ADDRESS OF HON. E. W. RUNYON. 



I do not know but I may be deemed guilty of presumption, in mak- 
ing an extemporaneous address, while the gentlemen who have pre- 
ceded me have read from manuscript carefully prepared. 

I feel the propriety of carefully compiling ideas and condensing 
thoughts, so as to present them in proper form before this dignified 
body on this occasion. If I should say, sir, that for the past two 
hours my heart has been filled with intense emotion, I should simply 
be stating what is the fact. When I came in this hall this morning 
I had no idea of saying one word upon the subject of the presentation 
of this portrait of Mr. Lincoln, and in fact I did not know that it was 
the arrangement that speeches were to be made on the occasion, other- 
wise I might have prepared myself as other gentlemen have done; 
but from the depths of the profoundest emotion I am moved to speak 
of the man whom I am not ashamed to say I love. Notwithstanding 
the plainness, the ruggedness, and even homeliness of that man's fea- 
tures, I love him. 

I heartily concur in every word, so eloquently uttered by the gen- 
tleman from Cumberland, the gentleman from Passaic, the gentleman 
from Camden, and others, in their sharp, clear analysis of Mr. Lin- 
coln's character. 

Who can ever forget, Mr. Speaker, that awful night, when the tel- 
egraph flashed over the wires to every part of the civilized world, 
the stunning, startling intelligence, "The President has been shot by 
an infernal traitor." 

I never had such feelings in my life as on the occasion of a little 
meeting held in my own town, in reference to this awful tragedy. 

And was ever mortal so sincerely and universally mourned? 

Witness the fact, that Queen Victoria — the virtuous and beloved 
Queen of the British empire — wrote an autograph letter to Mrs. Lin- 
coln, condoling with her upon her irreparable loss, and expressing 
her horror at the dreadful deed ; and even in France, the tidings 
caused a greater shock than if Napoleon, the usurper of tin; French 
throne, had been similarly assassinated. 

When the teeming millions of Europe had fully comprehended the 
astounding intelligence, there went up from that continent a mighty 
volume of mourning; and in our own land every loyal heart was 
crushed with grief and bowed down in sorrow. 



24 

The sable emblems of woe were festooned along every street in 
city, town and village, so that we might say, as did the immortal bard, 

" Hung be the heavens with black ; yield day to night." 

What was it, Mr. Speaker, that made this man great ? Why does 
he tower up among us the Colossus of the nineteenth century ? Why 
will his name and fame be cherished, while those of such men as Louis 
Napoleon will fade and die ? 

It was not, sir, that he was President of a great nation. Other 
men have occupied that distinguished position, whose portraits will 
never grace public galleries — whose statues will never occupy a niche 
in the pantheon — whose fame will not, like his, travel along the cor- 
ridor of history. It was not that he was a man of great attainments 
or mighty intelligence, because he did not possess them ; he had, how- 
ever, in a very remarkable degree, that hard, common sense, by 
means of which he could detect the most subtle sophistry and pene- 
trate the deepest disguise. It was not that he was the Commander- 
in-Chief of the armies and navies of this great nation. 

Other men have commanded great armies, and have drenched the 
world in blood, but there is no such bright halo surrounding their 
characters. 

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, what, in my judgment, made Mr. Lin- 
coln a great man and greatly beloved, and you, sir, in your remarks 
have indicated the true reason. 

It was because he was ever actuated by a desire to do just right, 
leaving the consequences to God ; and, fellow members of this House 
of Assembly, that is the one only true course to pursue in our journey 
through life. Let us do just right, and let consequences take care of 
themselves. 

The great Wolsey, after having been lifted up to the skies in point 
of station, honor, wealth and worldly glory, finally, when deserted by 
the King whom all his life he had fawned upon and flattered, was 
forced to say : 

"Oh! Cromwell, Cromwell, 
Had I but served my Cod with half the zeal 
I served my King, he would not in mine age 
Have left ine naked to mine enemies." 

Mr. Lincoln was a great man, and he was a good man. But I am 
reminded that time is passing, and I must not weary your patience, 
but before I resume my seat I will relate an instance illustrating the 
kindness of heart of this great man. 

You have probably all heard of the case of the poor Vermont sol- 
dier boy, who, during the late war, was caught sleeping on his post 
one night while standing guard. The poor boy had left a pleasant 
and luxurious home, nestled far away up among the verdant hills of 
that " star that never sets, 7 ' and lured by the excitement and novelty 



25 

of the thing, had enlisted in the army of freedom, and of course had 
to " rough it" the same as the hardy veteran. The camp was on the 
other side of the Potomac, and on the night in question it was his 
watch. He paced his weary round, watching the bright stars as t\xey 
glimmered down upon nim, and thinking of his own pleasant homo 
and the dear ones there, until at last, completely overcome by fatigue, 
he sat down on a log and soon fell asleep, and dreamed of that mother 
whose fond kiss at parting still remained upon his lip. He was discov- 
ered asleep, and forthwith a drum-head court sentenced him to die. 
The laws of war are severe and their penalty terrible, and yet, perhaps, 
no more severe than they ought to be. A sentinel sleeping on his 
post has always, by military law, been deemed worthy of death. The 
time appointed for the youthful soldier to be shot drew nigh, but 
some friends laid his case before the President, and he being satis- 
fied that the case was one requiring executive clemency, he issued his 
order remitting the penalty. On the day appointed for the execution, 
Mr. Lincoln, from some cause, grew restless and uneasy. The case 
of the Vermont boy pressed heavily upon his mind, and although ho 
had no reason to doubt that his reprieve had reached its destination, 
he had a presentiment that something was wrong respecting the mat- 
ter, but what it was he could wot divine. Determined to ascertain 
the truth for himself, he ordered his carriage, and stepping in he di- 
rected his coachman to put the horses to their highest speed and drive 
directly to camp beyond the Potomac, and he arrived there, his 
horses covered with foam, just in time to save the young soldier from 
being shot by a file of soldiers then drawn up for the purpose. From 
some cause the order remitting the punishment had failed to reach its 
destination. 

And now, Mr. Speaker, thanking the Housa for the opportunity 
given me to say a few words respecting the dead hero whose portrait 
hangs side by side with that of the illustrious Washington behind 
your chair, and thanking the House for the respectful attention they 
have given me, I resume my seat. 



ADDRESS OF HON. C. W. MOUNT. 



Mr. Speaker : — I have no written speech to deliver, no prepared 
eulogy to pronounce on him whose memory on this occasion we de- 
light to honor — in fact I had not proposed or intended to say a word ; 
but my heart has been touched, my feelings so inspired by the truth- 
ful allusions to the noble hearted patriot, Abraham Lincoln, that I 
am compelled to speak. There is a stream of overpowering sympa- 
thy arising within me to which I yield, and it will not be expected 
that I speak eloquently or regard arrangement and formality. No ! I 
speak simply as a humble servant, as only a private in the ranks of 
the Union army under the official administration of this great and 
good patriot. Why should not I add this phase of testimony to the 
exalted virtues of him whose portrait is now before me. 

Aye ! when I consider that Abraham Lincoln was called upon to 
meet the greatest issues ever before presented to the American peo- 
ple, his mind to grapple with national questions of the deepest con- 
cern to all nations, to guide and control the most powerful armies in 
numbers and skill known to the world; I say, when I consider these 
various issues, each and all of almost infinite importance, requiring 
the exercise of more wisdom, the test of more courage, and met by 
more opposition than any Executive ever before since the organiza- 
tion of our government, why should 1 not testify, and desire to per- 
petuate his memory, when he in life manifested the tenderest con- 
cern and expressed the warmest sympathy for every private soldier. 
That he could not, day by clay, make them more comfortable than the 
conflict of Avar wouldpermit, seemed a trouble of his official life. No 
Union soldier did he consider beneath his notice ; none so poor as not 
to command his respect. Ah ! it is true that the soldier's heart when 
faint and weary from prolonged duty was inspired to newness of life, 
when his mind reverted to Abraham Lincoln's anxiety for his country 
and the soldiers' general welfare. I speak but the universal senti- 
ment of every Union soldier throughout this broad land. 

Well do I remember when far away from this spot, where the im- 
mortal patriot Lincoln once stood; far along the coasts of sultry 
Georgia and South Carolina, isolated as we were many times, for 
weeks, from the means of communication with our dear friends at 
homo; when that mail ship did arrive, how sincerely anxious to read 
the lines from our loving and loved wife with whom it might be we 



27 

had exchanged the last heart wringing good-bye, and from those little 
darlings that gathered around us at our departure, and each received 
it might be the last earthly kiss ; when these lines were read what 
thought then : I tell you it was the papers brought by the same mail 
ship, to know what Abraham Lincoln had done ; had said. And if 
on other battle fields " Our Boys " had been defeated, and now we 
knew it; words desponding were uttered, how soon those doubts were 
hushed; those fears quieted by, "no danger, honest Abraham Lin- 
coln will bring us out all right yet." 

When that immortal patriot stood within this Assembly Chamber, 
now five years ago, where we are to-day, and asked the then Honor- 
able members of the Legislature of New Jersey " if it became neces- 
sary for him to put his foot down firmly, if they would stand by him," 
and they cheerfully responded " We will," it may have been thought 
a small matter. But I tell you here to-day, speaking as one who was 
" only a private" New Jersey soldier, that during exposure and posi- 
tive suffering that bordered at times on despair, those affirmations of 
the New Jersey Legislature, coupled with that indomitable firmness 
of Abraham Lincoln, cheered them on, fighting for the right, to final 
victory. 

Amid such associations and memories that still linger here, it is 
well that we to-day hang upon our walls — that we to-day dedicato 
this chamber to the portrait of the savior of his country. Ah ! it is 
well; and as a soldier I rejoice that in this legislative hall of New 
Jersey is placed beside the portrait of George Washington that of 
Abraham Lincoln. 



ADDRESS OF HON. J. H. NIXON. 



Mr. Speaker : — It may seem superfluous to add anything to what 
has been already said, and so well said by others on this occasion, but 
my feeling's prompt me to pay my humble tribute to the worth of the 
great man whose memory we, in the name of New Jersey, are honor- 
ing to-day. The portrait before us, now placed where I trust it may 
ever remain, is a faithful and excellent likeness of him whom it repre- 
sents, as all who ever saw him in his lifetime will attest, and reflects 
great credit upon the artist who executed it. But no artist's skill 
can portray the matchless virtues of the man. They will be pre- 
served in the hearts of the Ameriaan people through all time to come, 
and be cherished among their holiest traditions. 

No country but this could have produced Abraham Lincoln, for 
none other possesses those geographical, political and social elements 
that combine to mould, to develope and educate such a man, and none 
other furnishes to such a character, once formed, so suitable a field in 
which to work for the good of mankind. His birth and education in 
the then far West, in the midst of its amazingly grand and growing 
resources, among the humblest of the people, and far away from the 
conventional restraints of older societies, had much to do in making 
Abraham Lincoln the man he was. It was in this rude school his bold 
and independent character was formed, it was there he acquired his 
wonderful insight into the great heart of the common people which 
made him emphatically their own chosen leader, and, also, where love 
of full and perfect human liberty became an abiding and controling 
element of his very nature. No other country, 1 say, could have fur- 
nished such a school for such a man. Gocl placed him there to be 
educated for his great mission ; for He meant to call him from humble 
life, as he did David, to be a leader for his people. And in his own 
good time He did call him. Few in all the land, previous to the very 
day when Mr. Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency of the United 
States, the first office in the world, had any thought that he would be 
selected for the high position. The eyes of the nation were centred 
upon another man. But that he of all others should have been named, 
seems in the light of subsequent events to have been a signal interpo- 
sition of Providence. 

To undertake even a synopsis of the great events of his administra- 
tion, events with which his name will ever hereafter be most gloriously 
associated, would be to repeat to this House and to the people of the 
State, what they already know by heart. The few years just gone 



29 

by into whose months the great acts of Mr. Lincoln's marvellous his- 
tory were crowded, need no reference here more than has already 
been made by the gentlemen who have proceeded me. A work was 
given him to do greater than was ever imposed upon any one man in 
all the ages before. And how well he accomplished it; with what 
sublime patience, though often chided by the impatient ; with what 
consummate wisdom, though often charged with lack of it by the 
shortsighted: with what relentless energy, though many times un- 
kindly criticized ; with what singleness of heart, knowing no other 
desire, and having no other thought but the salvation of the country 
whose constitution he was sworn to protect and defend ; and with 
what kindness of heart, having malice towards none but charity for 
all. Who but he could have guided the people so like a father. His 
every word was caught up by the millions of the land and heeded as 
parental counsel, for all men ; the lofty and the lowly alike, believed 
in the incorruptible honesty and disinterestedness of the man. He 
was the same in the White House that he was in his humble home at 
Springfield. With him to guide them, the American people through 
four long, dark and bloody, but we trust purifying years, strove for 
their national existence. Long time the question of national life and 
unity remained unsolved ; but after alternating periods of hope and 
gloom the bright day of victory dawned, and an exultant nation went 
wild with joy. It was in the midst of this joy that the good man 
Lincoln was struck down. If Heaven had decreed that the stroke 
must indeed fall, the American people should evermore be thankful 
that it came no sooner than than it did. It only cut short a life com- 
pletely rounded in all that can make the sum of human glory perfect. 

The great work assigned to Abraham Lincoln was to crush a 
wicked and causeless rebellion, and he lived to sec its last agonies, 
and to tread with his own feet the capital of the traitor foe. With 
that work done, God took him, and good men bore his remains to 
their last resting place, amidst such a surging tide of national anguish 
as never swept over any land before. He now rests in immortal 
honor near the humble western home whence ho came to achieve his 
world-wide glory, while thitherward will wend for ages to come, the 
pilgrim feet of those who are yet to learn to read and love the story 
of his noble life and tragic death, and especially will it be the Mecca 
of that dark-browed race which he lifted from two hundred and fifty 
years of abject bondage to the level and to the rights of manhood. 

It is well that we have placed that portrait here in this Assembly 
Chamber, for from it, and that of Washington hard may 

daily draw fresh inspirations of patriotism. There let it remain long 
after we, who place it there, shall have deserted these halls forever; 
there, I say. let it remain to remind those who succeed ns of loyalty, 
of virtue, and of holy consecration to the countt ; there let 

it remain to teach our children and our children's children, that under 
our beneficent institutions the highest honors may be attained even 
by the humblest, if found worthy. 



30 

It is fitting for us, as a State, to show our appreciation of our great 
and noble dead. It is a venerable as well as pious usage. Nations 
in all ages have been accustomed to honor the memory of their dead 
heroes, and certainly none ever had better, braver or worthier than 
have we, and foremost among ours will forever stand the name of 
Abraham Lincoln. The exercises of to-day in honor of his memory 
will do honor to our State, for in honoring him we honor ourselves. 



ADDRESS OF HON. M. H. C. VAIL. 



Mr. Speaker: — I rise for the purpose of making a few remarks at 
this time with no little delicacy, and while the occasion proves to be 
deeply interesting, I had not intended to take any other part than 
that of an earnest, devoted listener to the eloquent words falling 
from the lips of the friends and admirers of Abraham Lincoln ; and J 
now approach the memorial altar erected here by willing hands to 
the memory of the illustrious deceased, for the purpose of depositing 
my sprig of acacia thereon, with fear and trembling, as my mind re- 
verts to the flow of eloquent language in eulogy that has fallen upon 
my car from the learned and gifted gentlemen of the opposite side of 
this House, whose bosoms are overflowing with a wealth of love for 
the memory of that man whose portrait now graces these walls through 
the beneficence of the last Legislature. I can only compare my pres- 
ent situation and condition to that of the widow spoken of in Holy 
Writ, who, more than eighteen hundred years ago, doubtingly and 
hesitatingly approached the treasury box and cast in her mite, while 
the wise, great, learned and rich were casting in of their hoarded 
wealth and abundance (gleaned from the hill country of Judea), and 
one standing by declared that she had cast in, in her penury, more 
than them all. But I lay no claim to casting more into the memorial 
treasure of one of our deceased Presidents, than those who have con- 
tributed from their passionately expressed love of his memory, that ho 
is now dead, and who cherished and revered him while he lived. 

You all remember that it is but a few days since, that I stood alone 
at the memorial altar of one of our deceased statesmen, and you also 
remember that I then and there deposited my " tribute memorium" in 
his behalf, and I now claim to have another "acacia sprig'' to place 
upon the altar of the memory of Abraham Lincoln, and will do so 
with as firm a hand and warm a heart as many among his most ardent 
and devoted admirers; for I claim to have within my bosom an honest 
heart, and one that pulsates in unison with all that is good, just and 
right, 

In the spring time of eighteen hundred and sixty-one, as your mem- 
ories will reveal, the balmy air came forth from the sunny south, 
laden with the sweetest of nature's perfume, gathered from mag- 
nolia's bloom (queen flower of aroma's realm) warming into new lifo 



32 

all animated nature, making the hill top to hold early converse with 
the tiny leaflet, and grassing the valley all over with its carpet of 
brightest and loveliest green, causing the spirits of men to flow cheer- 
ily on, Adien, lo! the alarm, dread indeed, rang out of terrible war, 
and the iron hail for the first time rained against Fort Sumter's de- 
voted walls, and the brave and noble Anderson, with his gallant little 
band pulled down, for the first time, the " star spangled banner of the 
free." The news spread, like wild fire running over the prairie vast, 
rousing to new life and energy all within its reach ; then there was a 
" hurrying to and fro"; men, mute and sad, sallied forth, clad in the 
habiliments of war, aud its fearful paraphernalia was visible on every 
hand, making the bravest heart to quail before the fearful scene. 
Then it was that the great and eventful career of your venerated Lin- 
coln began. 

For four long years the black and dreary clouds hung heavy around 
us, shutting out the entire political horizon, from the surface of which 
the angry flash and bellowing thunders of civil war broke forth ; 
spring and fall came and went in all their beauty, the seasons changed 
as in days of yore, until the spring time of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-five, and yet all wore the deepening sombre hue, when lo ! 
again ! one of those sweetly perfumed breezes from the sunny South 
came forth with healing in its wings, bearing the glad news that Lee 
had surrendered, that the war (devastating without precedent) was 
over, and we believed that the victory was won ; and indeed it was 
so, for soon the bright angel of peace resumed the place that had so 
long been usurped by the black fiend of war, and one loud and long 
huzzah of joy rang forth over hill and dale from the pineries of Maine 
to the cotton fields of Georgia, and from the prairies of Wisconsin to 
the Puo Grande of Texas. 

But a few days had elapsed after these glad tidings were received 
when Abraham Lincoln sought a few moments relaxation and went 
forth to the "gilded saloon." Four long years of constant toil and 
anxious care, and always surrounded by influences and councils both 
evil and good, all these combined producing a continued strain upon 
his mind, leading him to wile away an hour far from business cares, 
amid festive scenes, surrounded by his loving family, and with his 
devoted wife by his side ; ''twas there and then the assassin dark and 
damnable lurked, and armed with some death dealing instrument, 
with fatal aim sent the leaden messenger crashing .through his noble 
brain, causing the life that stood at highest flow to ebb. away, send- 
ing the soul, the life spirit, all that made Abraham Lincoln great, to 
that bourne from whence no traveler returns, while the frail tene- 
ment that had lost the bright jewel of life, surrounded by careful 
watchers and faithful friends, was carried back to the mighty west 
and there deposited in its final resting place, to moulder back to its 
native elements amid the broad prairies of his rural home. Memory 
reverts to the time with peculiar clearness when the sad news broke 
in upon the people's ear that the President was dead, stricken down 



33 

by the foul assassin's blow while in the midsf of joyful and festive 
scenes. Thousands were aroused al the midnight hour to hear the 
terrible news. I heard it not till the morning's dawn. The occa- 
sion was one that made a deep and lasting impression on my mind. 
Seated with my family around the breakfast board, and while partak- 
ing of the morning meal, the newspaper came, bearing in dark lines 
the fearful announcement. The shock was so great that my heart 
ceased to beat for the moment, when I came to realize the fact thai 
a President of the United States had fallen by other means than by 
the natural course of summoning from on High, when the proba- 
tionary career had ended. 

I had ever been a political opponent of Abraham Lincoln, using all 
my political energies in oj (position to his first and second elections, 
always laboring to defeat the major part of his measures, and opposing 
to the bitter end the principles of the party to which he belonged. 
But when that sad news cam*' all personal opposition was extinguished, 
and duty led me to remember only his good deeds. 1 felt that 1 could 
adopt the old maxim in regard to the illustrious deceased, •• To bury 
his faults and revere and honor lus virtues." 

And now in closing these rambling, extemporaneous remarks, and 
as 1 turn my eye upon the portrait where the artist has so faithfully 
traced his image, I am reminded that I cannot finish more appro- 
priately than by repeating in your presence the closing lines of a 
poem that he loved so well, ami in so doing i feel to exclaim oh ! 
how appropriate, how appropriate to the occasion of the last scene 
in his life— 

•■From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud. 
Oli ! Why should the spirit of mortal b ■ proud." 



/ 



REMARKS OF HON. A. 0. EVANS. 



Mr. Speaker: — It was far from my intention to have taken any 
other part in the proceedings of this morning than that of a silent 
listener; and it is not now my purpose, after the eloquent and very 
thorough reviews of both the private and public character of Mr. 
Lincoln, to occupy the time of the House with any remarks in that 
direction : but, sir, inasmuch as the speeches have thus far been con- 
fined to one side of the House, politically, I cannot permit the occa- 
sion to pass without adding- a few words to that which has already 
been said. However mm h 1 have differed with Mr. Lincoln about 
the momentous issues before the country during the troublous times 
in which he occupied the position of chief magistrate of the nation, 
1 never questioned his patriotism or honesty of purpose. The 
Democracy of this country mourned his assassination equally with 
Ihose who sympathized with him politically, and, as an humble repre- 
sentative of that Democracy, I claim the privilege of participating 
in this honor to his memory. 



